Sick hamster-large lump, closed eye and wet tail to top it off

starshme · 07-12-2014, 01:47 PM

Hi,

I could use some advice concerning my 1 year old Syrian male hamster, Apollo. He had a lump under his chin that grew very quickly and scabbed over. The vet said it was an infection and prescribed suprax 100 - 2 ml twice a day and betadine topically. He said to bring him back if the lump opened and he would clean it out.

Well, it's saturday night ( I'm in Beirut) and don't you know, the lump opened AND Apollo just developed wet tail. He keeps licking the lump and is still eating although his water bottle is staying full. He seems active and doesn't appear to be in distress. His tail area was dried and matted with fecal matter but I cleaned it with a q-tip and warm water and put betadine on the now open abscess. I'm only giving him dry food and I cleaned his cage thoroughly although I hope that doesn't stress him even more.

I am afraid that the vet will not be available until monday although I have a few numbers to try tomorrow. Does anyone have any advice to get through the next day until I can find a vet? Someone told me to give him peptobismal but I haven't been able to ask a vet if I should give him an anti diarrhea medicine or not.

Thanks,
Shannon

**kyrilliondaemon** · 07-12-2014, 01:51 PM

Wet tail and diarrhoea are different things, for diarrhoea stop giving him any fresh food and just feed him his hamster mix. I wouldn't give him human medicines without a vets advice as it'd be very difficult to get the dose right and an overdose would do more harm than good
Can you clean the lump yourself with boiled cooled water?

souffle · 07-12-2014, 01:55 PM

It could be caused by the medication as this can affect the tummy.
Don't give him an human meds and stick to dry as kyrill suggested. I'd try and not stress him with trying to clean him at the moment and try really hard to have him seen by a vet as soon as you can as they can go downhill very quickly with diarrhoea.

starshme · 07-12-2014, 01:59 PM

Hi,
Thanks for your response. Maybe it's just diarrhea, I didn't know that there was a difference. I can clean the lump a bit, he's very mellow. He's off of everything except his hamster food so hopefully it will be fine until I can see the vet again.

I appreciate the advice!

starshme · 07-12-2014, 02:04 PM

Thanks Souffle, my daughter got some numbers of a few vets so I really hope I can find one who will see him tomorrow. It's very difficult here to find someone who specializes in hamsters and exotic pets.

I think that the diarrhea is definitely due to the medicine he's on. I just hope it's the proper medicine and dose. The vet who saw him seemed knowledgeable but it was the first time I had gone to him.

Thanks again.

Skeever · 07-12-2014, 07:36 PM

Keep us posted. I thought I was the only person in Beirut with a hamster, to be honest

Which exotic pet vet did you find? Finding supplies and vets here isn't the easiest thing to do. Especially dealing with rodents.....

For what its worth a bit of laban yogurt is great for GI and related problems

souffle · 07-13-2014, 12:25 AM

Even with a correct dosage some hamsters get a diahorrheoa reaction to taking it. If the abscess has opened up now then it may be on it's way out. Keeping it clean and draining till no pus comes out is the way forward as once clear it will heal from inside out. You can give a teaspoon of live yogurt as skeever suggests to try and help his tummy get the live good bacteria back.

cowgirlskipper · 07-13-2014, 12:25 AM

Do you know the dillution of the medicine? 2 ml seems an awful lot to give a hammy. My sick guinea pig gets less than half of that! Then again, I'm not a vet. I hope he recovers, and isn't in any pain! Gentle pats to Apollo.

souffle · 07-13-2014, 12:46 AM

that's a point - Are you sure it isn't 0.2ml as that sounds much more likely. 2ml is a huge amount for a hammy unless it is 2ml in something like 100ml of drinking water.

starshme · 07-13-2014, 12:20 PM

Thanks for all the advice! Cowgirl and Souffle, the suspension of the suprax is 60 and 2 ml does seem like a massive amount to me as well because my 8 year old child gets 5 ml. I'm hoping there wasn't a mistranslation issue when the vet told me how much to give him. He spoke english pretty well though, so I don't know.

Luckily the diarrhea has cleared up and the lump is almost completely drained. I'll give him a little laban tonight and tomorrow we see the vet, so hopefully he will continue to improve. He's such a sweety, I hated seeing him so miserable.

Skeever, you're right about finding supplies, etc here. It's definitely a challenge. Plus, everyone thinks they are "dirty" or will get them sick. *sigh* Someone at BETA (Beirut ethical treatment for animals) recommended an animal hospital in Hamra.

Thanks again for all the help.